Aarakshan (2011)

A decision by India's supreme court tests a man's friendships and loyalty.

Director:

Prakash Jha

Writers:

Prakash Jha, Anjum Rajabali

Stars:

Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpayee

2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Amitabh Bachchan	...	Prabhakar Anand
Saif Ali Khan	...	Deepak Kumar
Manoj Bajpayee	...	Mithilesh Singh (as Manoj Bajpai)
Deepika Padukone	...	Poorvi
Prateik	...	Sushant Seth
Tanvi Azmi	...	Kavita P. Anand
Saurabh Shukla	...	Mantri Baburao
Darshan Jariwala	...	Anirudh Chaudhary
Yashpal Sharma	...	Shambhu Yadav
Mukesh Tiwari	...	Police Inspector
Rajeev Verma	...	Damodar
S.M. Zaheer	...	Retired Professor
Chetan Pandit
Vinay Apte	...	Neta Bhishamber
Anita Kanwar	...	Mrs. Kantaprasad

Storyline

Following the Mandal Commission report and the Supreme Court of India's decision to maintain a 27 percent reservation for Dalits and lower/backward castes, right-winged political parties organize protests. The Principal of Shakuntala Thakral Mahavidyalal, a non-government college which is exempt from this mandate, gets in the limelight when it's Principal, Prabhakar Anand, endorses the decision - much to the ire of the trustees as well as the newly appointed Vice-Principal Mithilesh Singh, who has invested Rs.1200 Crores in private coaching classes. Prabhakar refuses to change his stand and ends up tendering his resignation, taking his family, consisting of his wife, Kavita and daughter, Poorbi, to live near Shambhu Yadav's Tabela after they find their family home being taken over by Mithilesh's coaching classes. Attempts to evict Mithilesh's staff will be in vain and will not only end up alienating the family from everyone but Prabhakar will also be summoned and possibly arrested for...

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Plot Keywords:

principal | india | caste | reservation | funeral pyre | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi English

Release Date:

12 August 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Бронирование

Filming Locations:

Upper Lake, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$342,801, 14 August 2011, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$342,801, 14 August 2011

Company Credits

Production Co:

Base Industries Group, Prakash Jha Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

164 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie landed in controversy before it released, the Dalilts (a lower Hindu caste) had found some of the dialog offensive and had protested to either remove these dialogs or they would stop the film from releasing. Prakash Jha took his stand and defended that the film has no intention to offend any caste, and subsequently got the film released with some changes to the script.

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Goofs

Throughout the movie Deepak Kumar and Mithilesh Singh are shown carrying BlackBerry 9800 Torch mobile phones. The movie is set in 2008 whereas the phone was launched in 2010.

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Quotes

Prabhakar Anand: Q.E.D. stands for "Quite Easily Done."

User Reviews

A Potpourri of Vestiges Review: Amitabh Bachchan delivers tour de force in Prakash Jha's case study on India's socio-political setup

Prakash Jha's Aarakshan has something for everyone: To an average viewer, Aarakshan would serve to be a decent offering made special by the presence of a stellar cast led by Amitabh Bachchan himself. Aficionados would find it to be good enough to be considered as a case study on India's socio-political system. The critics will find it too absorbing to merely regard it as a satire on the prevalent education system. Jha has a great understanding of the Indian socio-political setup having himself contested elections from the state of Bihar—the second most influential state in the Indian political context. This knowledge places Jha at a point of vantage in the purview of Indian cinema. Jha's penchant for depicting realism in cinema puts him in a very elusive list of Indian filmmakers. With Aarakshan, Jha succeeds at both the technological and emotional fronts and more than makes up for the shoddy display in his previous production, Raajneeti. Jha uses his stellar cast and camera to full effect in order to capture the audience's attention right from the onset. He builds up his plot slowly but rhythmically with a scalpel like precision that one seldom sees in Hindi Cinema. What makes Aarakshan unique is that it not only succeeds in posing serious questions about the sensitive issue of reservation but also manages to propose a common humanistic solution for it—one that follows a universal approach aimed at working at the very roots of the problem.

Prabhakar Anand (Amitabh Bachchan), a private college principal, has devoted his life to the ideals of equality, righteousness and self- sacrifice. His undeterred determination for his cause has elevated and evolved the education standards in a state that is plagued by casted- based politics. During his three decade long tenure as a principal of a private college, he has not only taken the college to new heights but has also shaped the lives of hundreds of underprivileged students from the backward sects of the society and is respected by everyone alike. One of benefactors has been Deepak Kumar (Saif Ali Khan), who also happens to be his favorite pupil. Deepak Kumar comes from an extremely backward setup and owes everything to Prabhakar Anand and worships him as a disciple. He has a strong liking for Prabhakar's daughter Poorbi (Deepika Padukone), who reciprocates it fully. Prabhakar is a staunch condemner of commercialization of education and wants to provide quality education to the poor and the needy free of cost. He is the sole target of all those who advocate commercialization of education. Mithilesh Singh (Manoj Bajpai), who runs a chain of coaching institutes, heads the nexus that aims to destroy Prabhakar and his followers.

Amitabh Bachchan shines in the portrayal of Prabhakar, a portrayal that is highly reminiscent of his 'Angry Young Man' days. He goes through an entire gamut of emotions with an ineffable sense of ease that makes the portrayal utterly memorable. As Prabhakar, he is a loving husband, a caring father, a faithful friend, a staunch idealist, an undeterred revolutionary and most importantly, a humanist par excellence. It is Bachchan's best performance in well over a decade and even surpasses his portrayal of an inexorably idealistic principal in Mohabbatein. In fact, it wouldn't be a hyperbole to say that one cannot think of many actors in the country who could fit into the shoes of Prabhakar Anand better than Bachchan. Saif Ali Khan is brilliant in his portrayal of Deepak and yet again proves his versatility as an actor. It's his most powerful performance since his Langda Tyagi in Vishal Bhardwaj's Omkara. Manoj Bajpai is ever so reliable in his portrayal of a conniving business mogul and offers a great contrast to Bachchan's portrayal of an outright righteous man. In fact, Bajpai seems to be the only actor in Hindi Cinema who has never been known to act badly. His previous full-fledged performance alongside Bachchan in Aks had earned him a flurry of awards and one wouldn't be wrong in expecting the same this time round. Deepika Padukone and Prateik Babbar offer great support to a cast that is studded with veterans like Saurabh Shukla and S.M Zaheer.

Overall, Aarakshan offers a great insight into socio-political scenario of the country while also focusing on the flaws in the existing educational setup. The movie celebrates the spirit of humanity and proposes a common humanistic solution to the paradox of reservation in our country based on principles equality and freedom. Despite the occasional lack of coherence, Aarakshan is a must watch for the fans of Amitabh Bachchan and Prakash Jha and all those who have a place in their hearts for good and healthy cinema. 8/10

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